


Morning Visit

by muldy



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Although is it still a tag if it's set before the episode?, Episode Tag, s01e05 The Phage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 07:20:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13476501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muldy/pseuds/muldy
Summary: A short ficlet because I was wondering why Janeway and Chakotay were hanging out *before* breakfast while watching this episode the other day.





	Morning Visit

**Author's Note:**

> This is totally un-beta'd and written on the floor of an airport waiting room, I apologise for any mistakes!

He wasn’t sure who he expected to walk in when his door opened. As far as he’d been concerned there was a 50/50 chance it was either B’Elanna looking for someone to rant to, or Seska looking for something else entirely.

Kathryn Janeway wasn’t the person he had expected to find at that hour of the morning.

‘I was thinking, perhaps we need to start keeping a closer log of hours that crew are working, we wouldn’t want anyone to burn out, it’s not like we can transfer them off the ship,’ she muttered as she walked in.

He opened his mouth to respond but never got the chance.

‘I was also wondering what your thoughts were on exploration? I mean I know we have to get home, but the Delta Quadrant – it’s entirely unexplored and I’m sure we’re to come across many phenomenon that are undocumented or unheard of! What do you think?’

She spun around and finally look up at him, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm and excitement. He felt a warmth spread through his chest – so much of what he had seen of his Captain so far had been her stressed or concentrating or anxious. He had seen moments where she was happy or curious but he was sure this was the first time he had seen her like this.

Relaxed and excited.

‘I think that you’re the Captain,’ he smiled at her. ‘But – ‘

‘See I knew you’d have an opinion,’ her smile broadened. ‘You seem like the type to always have an opinion.’

‘But I agree, there may not be any other ship in our life times that makes it to the Delta Quadrant, and we should take the opportunity to explore as much as we can, provided it’s not going to cause any significant delays to our journey,’ he finished. ‘And you’re right – I do always have an opinion.’

She grinned and turned to look out the window at the Delta Quadrant sprawled ahead of them. He still wasn’t entirely sure why she was there, he actually wasn’t sure about a lot of decisions she had made. Kathryn Janeway surely wasn’t like any other Starfleet captain he had ever encountered.

He took a moment to reflect on the fact that he was so lucky, for he and his crew could have just as easily been relegated to the brig, or at least restricted to their quarters, for their entire journey home. Instead she had not only allowed his crew to join hers, but she had asked him to be her First Officer.

And now she wanted to explore the Delta Quadrant with him.

‘I’m going to take a wild guess and say you started out as a science officer,’ he said, stepping up next to her to look out the window.

‘You could have found that on my file, but yes,’ she turned to look at him again. ‘Science is my first love. Exploration is my second. Don’t tell my fiancé.’

She had mentioned him before, but for some reason he felt a slight twinge in his gut as she brought him up. It wasn’t that he had feelings for this woman, but the idea that someone else could be closer to her than he would ever be allowed to be dug at him.

Her smile suddenly dropped from her face and she reached out with a hand to touch his arm lightly.

‘Commander, I’m sorry, I just noticed you’re not even dressed, and your shift doesn’t start for another hour,’ she said, seemingly mortified.

‘It’s not a problem, Captain,’ he replied softly, placing a hand over hers, unsure what made him do it. ‘I was awake, just taking my time getting ready. If you give me a couple of minutes I can walk with you to Engineering and we can check in with B’Elanna on how those repairs are going.’

He didn’t miss the way her eyes fell to where his hands trapped hers against his arm and after a moment she took a step back, putting some distance between them.

‘I’ll be just outside,’ her smile returned.

He watched as she walked out of his quarters, and as the doors closed behind her he couldn’t shake the smile from his face.

And all he could think was that he was luckiest Maquis Captain in the galaxy to be stuck here with this Starfleet Captain.

Or perhaps he was the luckiest man in the galaxy to be stuck here with the woman behind the Captain.

Taking in a deep breath he tried to push that thought away.

She was engaged.

Whatever it was he was feeling, it was only allowed to be appreciation for everything she had done for him and his crew.

That was all it could be.

 


End file.
